closet battle

My sister gave Slane three big bags of clothes last week, and now Slanes clothes and mine are fighting for closet/dresser space. I think it is time to move on from the changing table and get Slane a dresser. I'm not sure where it will go, but it is definitely needed. Right now many of her things are in a big pile on the floor because we are not sure where else to put them. We also got a bag of clothes that I (and probably a few cousins ahead of me) wore back in the day, and Slane wore one of my dresses to church yesterday. So far we've been making small apartment/bad floor plan work, but as Slane gets bigger it will be more difficult. I tell myself it is just until May or so--keep your eyes open for a decent rental for us.

Speaking of my sister, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of her baby (due on Wednesday!!). We want to meet Slane's newest cousin.

Thanks J for the high chair. It makes feeding Slane her green beans, applesauce, peaches, and carrots so much easier.

One more note--I got the measurements. Last Tuesday, Slane weighed 19 pounds even and was 27 1/4 inches long/tall. What a big girl!

6 month wellness check

We miss Dr. B. Yesterday was Slane's 6 month wellness check. Q and I always make bets on weight and length, so I was so busy determining if I won or lost that I didn't pay close attention to the exact weight and height. Dr. B's nurse always wrote it down for me, but Dr. W's nurse did not. We go back on Friday for flu shots, so I will ask if someone can write it for me then.

Slane weighs somewhere around 19 pounds, and is 27 1/4 inches long/tall. Everything looks good. She did not like having her ears checked, and wasn't really in love with the tongue depresser either. She did love the paper on the scale. First she kicked at it, then began ripping shreds of paper (and loving it, laughing and smiling the whole time). Then she started to eat the paper, and that is when I removed all of the paper from the table. When the nurse walked in she put it back, and I chuckled at that. Why bother? I ask.

Dr. W seemed rushed. He didn't spend a lot of time answering my questions and didn't give me a lot of time to answer his questions. He didn't even show me the percentile chart. He wasn't as personable as Dr. B is, and I hope it was just that he was having a rough day or was trying to catch up or something.

Slane also got her 4 month shots yesterday. I had to close my eyes. Why can I handle getting my own shots, but I can't handle watching Slane get hers? It was a rough day at the public health clinic for us, because Slane also fell off of my lap just before we went in for the shots. She stabbed me in the eye, and I was cleaning my lense and she shifted her balance and landed on the floor with the diaper bag on top of her. I felt so bad, and embarrassed. She was fine, and she got over the shots quickly also.

Slane also got a treat for her 6 month birthday. Sunday we went to Des Moines and picked out a new jogging stroller. She has been trying to sit up and see more from her old stroller, so we decided it was time to upgrade to something more for "big" girls. Q tried it out last night on the disc golf course, and loved it. We got one with extra big wheels that detach so it fits in the trunk. Actually, that is why we chose that one. At first, I suggested a bigger car, but Q sent me out to the car with each stroller we were looking at so that I could try to get it in and out of the trunk by myself (make sense, if I can't do it, what is the point of getting it?). We love the extra features, like an MP3 player hookup, and lots of reflectors, and zipper pockets, and even a pedometer.

Watch out folks, she's mobile.

Q discovered what I already knew. Slane can move. I learned this on Saturday when we were trying to air out diaper rash. He learned yesterday when he stayed home sick, and to take care of Slane since Miss D had surgery.

She is getting really good at going smoothly from sitting up to her belly to her back. Tonight she went as far as her belly and did this little scoot thing to move forward. It was very cute watching, and it also means she will be crawling before we know it, and we need to get the house childproofed sooner rather than later (but high chair is higher on the priority list).

Yesterday Q had her on the bed. He turned for just a second, turned back around, and she was midair. He tried to catch her, but wasn't successful and she bonked her head as she landed. He felt so bad--but they are both okay now.

So, watch out. Slane is on her way.

doctor, doctor, give me the news

I got a bad case of being cute!

I get allergy shots, sometimes once a week, sometimes biweekly, sometimes every three weeks, depending on where I am in the regimen (being pregnant threw if off a bit, so now I am just catching up). I have been getting allergy shots for 4 years, 3 of those here in Grinnell. So between that, OB visits, and Slane wellness checks, I know everyone in the office pretty well.

So, when Slane was littler, I would leave her in her car seat in the lobby while I got my shot. I knew they were watching her and she wasn't going anywhere. Some people give me strange looks when I tell them that. If I lived in the city, I would never do that. But here, I'm not worried. When I get back to the lobby after my shot, it is true, Slane is usually not there. That's because she is behind the receptionist counter, out of her car seat, getting lots of love and attention from the receptionists and nurses. There are times when I am not sure I will get her back.

At my 6-week post-partum checkup, I brought Slane along. And then Dr. B decided we needed someone to watch her, so he took her to the nurses' station, and they had a great time with her.

These days, I take her back with me for the shot. Last time, she tried to grab the syringe, and Friday she tried to get the serum. Silly baby. And then we went to check out. First, I had to put her on the counter so she could be admired. Then she discovered that the window panes move. She had a great time playing with the window while everyone who was still there at 4:45 on a Friday cooed over her and said it seemed like I should still be pregnant, not carrying around an almost 6 month old baby.

Slane is definitely loved by the people who take care of her. And she is quite popular among the people at the doctor's office.

Why is there desitin on the floor?

If you walked into the ghettoplex kitchen right now, you would see an interesting sight. There is/are: two frosted cakes, a tube of desitin, some dirty bottles, a pile of wet cloth diapers, one uneaten ham and cheese sandwich, one bumbo-covered in pureed carrots and rice rusk, one massive pile of dishes, one unused disposable diaper, one mom-still unshowered and wearing one of Q's shirts which also has carrots, rice rusk, pee, and spitup on it, and a naked baby coated in desitin and sitting in the middle of the floor.

Slane has some serious diaper rash, so for most of the day we have been hanging out in the kitchen so she can air out and I can mop up the mess later. Every time she pees or poops she just screams and I felt so bad I just took the clothes and diaper off and let her go. So, yes there is some desitin smeared on the floor, but Slane is currently cooing contentedly. I think her little booty is very sensitive (we wouldn't know anything about sensitive skin in our family) and every time we try a new food it takes a while for that skin to grow accustomed. Hopefully a few hours of airing out will help. And when Q comes home from football it will be clean up time.

Drool

Booger journalist Dave Barry wrote once that babies have two glands: a poop gland and a drool gland. He was right. We know this because Slane drools. Big time.

You know that leaky faucet, the one in your kitchen that drips and dribbles incessantly? Slane is the embodiment of your leaky faucet. Sometimes I think the drool glands are not just in her mouth, but on her chin and neck. We have tried to keep her dry but it was an exercise in futility. Bibs are no match. This would explain how her onesies get so damp, having that sopping wet two-tone effect.

There was a time when Slane was drool free. Around two months the drooling began. Friends and strangers alike would say "She must be teething!" While her gums are getting harder (for a toothless baby, she has quite a bite), there are no teeth yet. And the drool goes on.

Here is set of photos of Slane from the past four months of Slane and her drool. You may want to wipe down your monitor when you are done.

daycare

While finding daycare was initially a challenge, I think we have found a good one. We were on the waiting list for the community daycare where I taught music last year. I assumed (wrongly) that I had an in there and we would not have a problem. Not so. So, I started calling people from the list provided by the childcare referral service. Every one that I liked and lived in a part of town we felt comfortable with (I know, it is a small town, but still, we didn't want someone who lived in an apartment or on a major highway, that kind of thing) didn't have openings. We started calling second choices. Keep in mind that school was about to start, I was in orientation, and we were desperate (but special thanks to T who covered for us). Finally, it came down to two people. I had actually visited someone earlier in the summer but we never decided for sure, and then when we did we had contact issues and she wasn't sure if she wanted another baby. The other person had kids of her own, and we liked them both, but in the end we chose the first lady because she didn't have kids at home and could send Slane home and relax and start the next day new, rather than never getting a break from kids. And we know the other family she takes care of (though after this week Slane will be the only one...).

Slane loves D. She gets to play all she wants and watch the bigger kids and gets so overstimulated that sometimes she won't even take a nap there. They go to the park, and for walks, and swinging, and hang out in the exersaucer or bumbo or bouncy seat. She spends a lot of time outside (is starting to show some sun) and sometimes cries when it is time to leave. D takes good care of her. Sometimes when she is changing dirty diapers, she wipes all of Slane down, lotions her, and does her hair. D doesn't like Slane to be soggy from her constant drooling, so frequently changes her outfits (which creates more laundry for me, but I can deal with that). We often leave with the favorite toy of the day,as well as extra bibs and burp cloths.

So far, we made a good choice. Slane is about to be the only kid, and she gets lots of love and attention that way, whereas at the daycare she would have been one of eight, and would still have gotten love and attention, but not necessarily the personal care.

Oh, and by the way, two days after we signed a contract with D, the daycare called saying they had room for us. Too late...

Watching cars go by

MamaCue was Piano Teacher tonight, so Slane and I went for a long walk. The highlight for Slane was watching cars and buses drive up and down 6th Avenue. Sixth is a four-lane highway, U.S. 6, and the main east-west drag through town. As each car passed us, Slane followed it with her entire head until the car disappeared around the bend or another car was in view. We must have stood on the corner for 15 minutes. Both MamaCue and I share this fascination with traffic passing by. Do you?

30 days, 30 posts?

It's been a summer of adventure and excitement. If you read this blog, you'd be surprised to hear that. We've been busy being parents and workers and travelers and birthday girls and hosts and...and...and...now it's time to get back to sharing more about our adventures with Little Miss BabyCue.

Here's our promise to you, dear reader: a post every day for the next 30 days. Some posts will be current events, others will highlight our summertime adventure and excitement. After all, Slane has now visited seven (!) states and many friends and family.

Slane is now eating solid food. We have rice cereal (in the can, it looks like the love child of fish flakes, Cream of Wheat, and Potato Buds) and have been experimenting with fresh foods. Ema brought unsweetened applesauce from the farm. We have pureed pears, peaches, carrots, and green beans. (Not all at once. That would be disgusting.) The pears disagreed with Slane, giving her diarrhea. Afterwards, we discovered that we should have cooked the pears. (Sorry, Slane.)

Slane likes to feed herself. She wants to hold the bottle. She wants to hold the spoon - the handle and the spoony part. (What is the spoon part of the spoon called?) This usually means the food is everywhere - her face, her hands, her bib, her feet, her chair. Slane also wants to eat paper. First, she studies the paper, then decides that no one else can read it so it must be eaten. Today while at the Evil Empire (Always Low Prices!), we discovered a solution: Baby Mum-Mums, a rice rusk. She devoured the first one and most of the second. She looks like the kid on the box, except with Baby Mum-Mum debris on her face, hand, clothes, Bumbo seat, MamaCue, etc. Apparently, Slane's a fan. (Hot Kid marketing department: need an endorsement? Contact us.)

Finally, here's your moment of cute. Last weekend was unusually cold with lows in the 30s - we're pretty sure we got a frost, as trees, corn, and soybeans are all beginning to turn color. Here's a photo of Slane in her fall finery: